CBBOs & FPOs To Play Major Role In Doubling Farmers Income: Agri Minister

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Kailash Choudhary on Tuesday said that cluster-based business organizations and farmer producer organizations can play a significant role in doubling farmer's income.

The minister was addressing at a regional conference in Panchkula, Haryana, for CBBOs (Cluster-Based Business Organizations) and FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations) under the central government's 10,000 FPO scheme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised "Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas-Sabka Prayas" to make farmers self-reliant and double their income, according to Choudhary, and FPOs play a crucial part in implementing this task, which CBBO may assist with.

According to an official statement, Choudhary asked CBBO representatives to enlist the help of small farmers to grade and sort their crops.

To get the most out of the scheme, CBBO would need to include as many farmers as possible in FPOs, he added.

Using the milk cooperative Amul as an example, the minister stated that larger FPOs may be established on a similar model with the participation of a significant number of fruit and vegetable farmers.

Haryana's agricultural minister, Jai Prakash Dalal, stated that the state has already created 600 to 700 FPOs.

The regional conference brought together 50 representatives from CBBOs and 300 from FPOs from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Punjab. The conference included representatives from several implementing agencies as well as state government officials that work with FPOs.

The scheme's development was reported by N Vijaya Lakshmi, Joint Secretary (Marketing), Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.

According to the official statement, the Union government has formulated a new central sector scheme titled "Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs)," which was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh) in 2020 with a budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore.

The scheme is based on a produce cluster approach and aims to improve production, market access, diversification, value addition, processing, and export, as well as create agri-related jobs and empower farmers. The establishment of FPOs will be focused on "One District One Product" for product specialisation development while using a cluster-based approach, according to the statement.

The scheme also includes a three-year financial assistance package of Rs 18 lakh per FPO for management costs in order to make them sustainable and commercially viable.